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| A Crossword Anniversary | A Crossword Anniversary |
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| Will Shortz celebrated his 30th anniversary as The Times’s Crossword editor this week. He is one of only four Crossword editors since 1942, when the paper began publishing puzzles as a way to offer relief to readers overwhelmed by war news. “It is possible there will now be bleak blackout hours — or if not that then certainly a need for relaxation of some kind or other,” Lester Markel, the paper’s Sunday editor, wrote to Arthur Hays Sulzberger, the publisher, two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. | Will Shortz celebrated his 30th anniversary as The Times’s Crossword editor this week. He is one of only four Crossword editors since 1942, when the paper began publishing puzzles as a way to offer relief to readers overwhelmed by war news. “It is possible there will now be bleak blackout hours — or if not that then certainly a need for relaxation of some kind or other,” Lester Markel, the paper’s Sunday editor, wrote to Arthur Hays Sulzberger, the publisher, two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| To mark Will’s anniversary, I interviewed him by email for today’s newsletter. I’m grateful to crossword devotees who suggested some of today’s questions. | To mark Will’s anniversary, I interviewed him by email for today’s newsletter. I’m grateful to crossword devotees who suggested some of today’s questions. |
| David Leonhardt: You made some big changes to the puzzle when you took over in 1993, introducing more wordplay and popular culture, among other things. But what have been the biggest changes to the puzzle during the past 30 years? | David Leonhardt: You made some big changes to the puzzle when you took over in 1993, introducing more wordplay and popular culture, among other things. But what have been the biggest changes to the puzzle during the past 30 years? |
| Will Shortz: Those are the two biggest changes. But in addition I’ve tried to broaden the range of contributors. When I started, most of the contributors were older (early 50s on average) and overwhelmingly white. Now the average age is probably in the mid- to late 30s, and the people making puzzles are much more diverse. | Will Shortz: Those are the two biggest changes. But in addition I’ve tried to broaden the range of contributors. When I started, most of the contributors were older (early 50s on average) and overwhelmingly white. Now the average age is probably in the mid- to late 30s, and the people making puzzles are much more diverse. |